


Did You Just Say Bad Wolf?

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode: The Day of the Doctor, F/M, Gen, Immortal Rose Tyler, Married Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 07:16:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20327230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: The Tenth Doctor isn't going to just let it go when he hears his younger self call out to Bad Wolf, despite their lack of time. And why isn't the Eleventh Doctor more concerned by hearing that name?





	Did You Just Say Bad Wolf?

“Oh, Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you!”

“Sorry, did you just say… Bad Wolf?” 

The Doctor shifted on his feet awkwardly as he looked at his two younger selves. “I’m sorry, but we don’t exactly have the time to-”

“We’ll make the time!” his tenth self snapped. 

The youngest Doctor tilted his head to the side, and seemed to stare off into the distance for a moment before speaking. “She said that she’d look like someone from my future, but I find it hard to believe that I could ever meet someone so… important after all of this.” He gestured around the room, as if he could sum up the entire Time War with a single wave of his hand. 

The tenth Doctor scowled. “Rose is- was- more than just ‘important’. She was everything. She saved our life, and made us a better person.”

The Doctor cleared his throat, still feeling awkward. Had he really ever been that pathetic, pining man? “Rose isn’t-”

“Don’t you dare say that she isn’t special!” his tenth self snapped. “I may not be fond of violence, but I’m not afraid to smack some sense into you.” 

The Doctor held his hands up in mock surrender. “Wouldn’t want that then, as counterproductive as it might be. But seriously, don’t you think that saving the world might be a bit more important than discussing the past?” He was well aware of the way it felt like Clara’s eyes were burning a hole through the back of his head, but he didn’t turn to look at her, and trusted that she would understand why he didn’t want her to say anything.

The three Doctors managed to save Gallifrey with minimal further arguments, and then all three of them returned to the museum to say their final goodbyes to one another. After his youngest self left, the Doctor could feel the way that his tenth self was looking at him. “I just don’t understand what could possibly happen in my future that could make me forget about Rose Tyler.”

He sounded so sad and pathetic, and the Doctor let out a soft sigh of annoyance. “Alright, look, since you’re going to forget all of this anyways, there’s something that I want to show you. Stay right there!” He rushed into his TARDIS, and straight to the bedroom. There seemed to be a million pictures hanging up on the wall, but it didn’t take him long to find the one that he was looking for. Then he ran back out to the museum, ignoring the amused look on Clara’s face when he emerged, as she sat and drank tea without a care in the world. The Doctor hesitated for a moment, but he couldn’t feel any sign that doing this would cause a universe-ending paradox or anything, so he held out the picture. “Here. Take a look.”

The tenth Doctor gave him a bemused look as he accepted the photo, but it quickly faded away, replaced by a look of shock. “But that’s… that’s you, and Rose, and you…”

“Got married,” the Doctor finished quietly. “Yes. You’ll see her again someday, Doctor. I don’t stay stuck on the past because I have forever with her.”

The younger Doctor gulped, and nodded once, eyes still glued to the picture. The Doctor couldn’t blame himself, since he already knew how gorgeous Rose looked in her wedding dress, with that iconic grin of hers. “I can hardly believe it,” he said quietly. 

Then the Doctor realized that his tenth self was turning to go back to his TARDIS, and he quickly reached forward to pluck the picture out of his fingers. “No spoilers,” he reminded himself. Once the other Doctor was gone, the Doctor turned back to his own TARDIS, only to hear soft footsteps and a light laugh. He turned immediately and saw Rose walking into the gallery room, eyes glancing around at the various paintings on the wall. “Rose!” He rushed forward to pull her into a hug. “What have you been up to all day?”

The moment Kate Stewart had mentioned Queen Elizabeth I, Rose had gotten a grumpy look about her, and had loudly declared that she would spend the day wandering the city while the Doctor and Clara ‘took care of business’. The Doctor had reminded her of the time Elizabeth I had wanted him killed after he’d met Shakespeare, and she’d only looked grouchier before giving him a chaste kiss and then heading away. The two of them had been traveling together for hundreds of years by now, and the Doctor knew better than to begrudge her time on her own, and also knew that she was more than capable of taking care of herself if something were to happen. 

At least she didn’t seem grumpy anymore. Instead, there was a playful grin on her lips as she looked the Doctor in the eyes. “How was the wedding?”

He immediately froze, and his eyes widened. “Uh, I, how did you, I mean, you can’t…” he trailed off, and then gently grabbed Rose’s hands, giving her a pleading look. “Please don’t be angry. I swear that it wasn’t intentional. I was just trying to save the world and she… how did you even know?” he asked again.

The amusement on Rose’s face only increased, but the Doctor found that he didn’t mind so much when he was the butt of a joke, not if it made her smile like that. Then she pulled one of her hands free so that she could reach into her pocket, where she pulled out a half empty bag of confetti. It took the Doctor a moment, but then he realized that it was the same stuff Clara had thrown onto the ‘happy couple’ to celebrate the wedding. He stared at his wife in confusion, and she laughed. “I asked her to take pictures, too, if she thought she could get away with it.” Then she slowly became more serious, and nodded towards the TARDIS. “Come on. We have a few things to talk about.”

They went to their room so they could have some privacy, and the Doctor put the wedding photo back where it belonged before he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Rose. “How did you know? And please don’t just say ‘time travel’.”

She sighed. “I was there, love. It wasn’t today, not for me, it was more like centuries ago, but I was there. I never would have let you face the most difficult day of your life all alone.”

“Bad Wolf,” the Doctor suddenly blurted out. “That’s what my younger self said. He thanked Bad Wolf.”

Rose nodded. “I couldn’t tell you about your future, especially not when it involved changing your past, and I couldn’t be there like this. I know you too well. Your younger self may have never let me go. And besides that, I don’t think I could have made it through the ceremony without laughing too much and distracting him- you. But I knew you’d be alright. I believe in you.”

The Doctor leaned over to give Rose a long kiss, and he didn’t pull away until they both needed to gasp for air. “So then I suppose this means that you don’t need to hear all about my day, then?”

Rose grinned. “Don’t even bother pretending like you’re not dying to tell me.”

The Doctor grinned back, and then pulled Rose closer to him so that they could snuggle together while he talked. “Oh, alright, fine. So, it all started with a creature called a Zygon…”


End file.
